Luke Littler retained his UK Open title with an 11-7 victory over three-time champion James Wade at Minehead.
Littler held off the gritty Wade to become the only fourth player to claim back-to-back titles, and the first since Michael van Gerwen in 2015 and 2016 to pick up the first prize of £120,000.
“It feels amazing,” Littler told ITV 4. “It hasn’t been my best tournament average-wise, but as a player you’ve got to dig deep.
“I took it game by game and we’ve gone back-to-back. That was my target. I’ve had a bit of a dry spell but I’m back.”
In an event known as the ‘FA Cup of darts’, Littler and Wade were the last two men standing from 160 players to establish a repeat of the 2025 final.
Littler overpowered Wade 11-2 on that occasion, and it looked ominous again for the 42-year-old after losing the first three legs.
Wade resisted any thoughts of fatigue to level either side of the opening session, but Littler stepped up his treble power to stretch into a 6-3 lead.
Littler’s finishing was from polished, however, and Wade restored parity at 6-6 and then 7-7.
Wade missed a shot at the bullseye to win the 15th leg and Littler stepped in with a 116 checkout that raised the roof.
It was to prove decisive as Littler pulled away to get across the finishing line without being at his brilliant best, taking out double 12 and building on his first nightly 2026 Premier League win last Thursday.
Littler had earlier overcome double trouble to deny Josh Rock his first major final appearance.
The world number one missed 16 darts in a row at a double and trailed 5-1 in the semi-final before digging deep to prevail 11-9.
Littler recovered from 9-7 down to maintain his flawless record against Rock, which now extends to seven matches.
Gerwyn Price’s bid for a first UK Open title was ended by Wade in the last four.
Wade took control by winning six successive legs to lead 9-5 and went on to win 11-8, hitting 11 180s to average 105.53.
